Saturday, January 11/2014

Regular Saturday coffee with Maggi, this time at Harry's by St Lazarus Church.  M has been talking to Martina, a Slovak girl who works at a travel agency we have sometimes used. When the banking crisis hit Martina had recently bought a flat, which she is now desperately trying to hang on to. First her hours were cut drastically as the business went downhill, so she asked the employer to lay her off so she could get benefits. He wouldn't and she finally found a second part time job in a betting shop. Then got laid off in the travel agency. Or nearly so. She still gets €20 (£16.66, $29.88 CAD) for coming in Saturdays to do the week's clerical/computer work which the old man isn't really up to. Those little travel agencies must be a dying breed. They actually only act as rather slow agents for larger travel companies that sponsor the packages. It usually takes them a couple of days to find out "if there is availability" - and this in an age in which it's easy to do instant (and often cheaper) bookings on line. So Martina is just one sad story of many in Cyprus's new economy.